Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price fell 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $48.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as low as $40.97 and last traded at $41.53. 6,580,183 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 38,216,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.73.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BAC. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.31.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $315.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.25 and a 200-day moving average of $43.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.